Market Day

Tuesday, October 16

The Maasai market every Tuesday is so much fun, but it takes a lot out of you and I’m always come home Tuesday afternoons exhausted and completely filthy from sun and dust. I get kind of annoyed with myself when I think about some of the stuff I bought sometimes because I’m not always sure whether I could’ve gotten a better price for something. I’m getting a lot better at being firmer, but I can definitely do better. One has to get into this whole culture of what bargaining is, because there are so many theatrics involved in it, there is a balance between being nice and not getting ripped off, because a lot of the vendors see your skin color and try their hardest to rip you off if they can get you to fall for it. And it’s my fault for being stupid if I don’t know any better. I’ve always got to put on my firm bargaining face and frame of mind before I go into the market. Some of the vendors are super cool though and even though they know I don’t always want to buy anything from them, they just like chatting for awhile. These are the ones I like to hang out with.
Usually whenever I’m out traveling, I’m always eager to talk to anyone who is willing to talk. I love smiling at people getting into good conversations with strangers wherever I go. But here, I find myself being much more purposely reserved and avoiding eye contact when I’m walking and such. Many times, I feel like everyone who comes to talk to me always wants something. They’ll talk to me for awhile and seem nice and great, and then they always ask me for something-to pay for their school fees, to help them get a visa to the US, for my phone number-Kenyan men are really bold! I have to be so cold sometimes and this is so different from what I’m used to-making eye contact and smiling at people, just sharing a smile or moment’s connection with anyone, it’s hard to reach out to anyone because I’m the obvious visitor here.